Tamluk, May 31: Subhendu Adhikari, whose wings Mamata Banerjee had sought to clip yesterday, has said “we know” how a lot of people “conducted the elections and won” by big margins.

Subhendu, whose father and family patriarch Sisir Adhikari too lost out in the organisational recast announced by the chief minister yesterday, today reminded the party of his popularity — a claim that few Trinamul leaders barring Mamata can make.

“One section of people had claimed that my popularity had dipped, that my winning margin would decrease. You all have rubbed the critics’ noses in the dirt, spoiled their party, by helping me win by 245,611 votes, compared with the margin of 172,688 the last time,” Subhendu, who won the election from East Midnapore’s Tamluk, told a meeting in the district.

Then he added: “Ebong onekei onek votey jitechhen, aami tader dhanyabad janai, kintu tara ki kaidatey vote korechhen, ki kaiday jitechhen aamra jani (Many others have won by large margins too, and I thank them, but we know in what manner they conducted the elections and how they won).”

Subhendu later said in response to a question whether he was referring to allegations of rigging in the Lok Sabha polls: “In the last panchayat elections, the lead in the Tamluk Lok Sabha seat came down to 82,000…. I have tried to say that I have managed to increase my lead much more than others when the panchayat election results are taken into account. I have not said anything regarding the election process. I have no complaints about the vote.”

Subhendu appeared to be confining himself to his own seat where his popularity is unmatched. He later blamed the CPM for spreading rumours about him.

But the critics of Trinamul are certain to cite his comments as further evidence that alleged electoral malpractice elsewhere might have played some part in the ruling party’s spectacular performance of bagging 34 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The leaders of the CPM, the highest margin of which did not cross 20,000 votes, have been claiming that it lost around 7 per cent votes because of alleged rigging. It is not known how the figure was arrived at but polling in the last few phases was marked by allegations of intimidation and rigging.

At the meeting to felicitate him for the election victory, Subhendu said: “Long before the Lok Sabha polls, there was a buzz in buses, trams and shops that the Tamluk seat would be reserved for women. Then word was spread that I am shifting to West Midnapore. Everything was rumour.”

Asked who had spread the rumour, he said later: “It was the CPM that spread the rumour. Other Opposition parties also took part in it.”

A Trinamul faction had been running a whisper campaign against Subhendu but he did not make any reference to it today.

Mukul Roy, the Trinamul all-India general secretary whose son has been appointed working president of the youth wing whose state unit Subhendu headed until yesterday, was busy at a meeting tonight and was not available for comment.

At the meeting, Subhendu sought inspiration from Swami Vivekananda. “If somebody deserves something, then no power in the world can deprive him,” the MP said, quoting Vivekananda and taking out a picture of the monk from his pocket.

“No post or stamp of authority is required to serve the people,” Subhendu added.